“Get a room,” Ursula called, playfully throwing a cheesy French fry that bounced off of Erik’s back. Startled, Erik pulled away, but he didn’t look the least bit embarrassed.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled, mortified that she’d called us out. I smoothed the silk of my dress back in place and sat back on the bench. I could feel her eyes on me, and I chanced a look in her direction. Her expression was unreadable, but she was projecting a sadness that I didn’t understand. When she said that her friend had dated Erik, had she really been talking about herself? Surely not; I quickly dismissed the thought.

  The others settled back into their seats once the parade ended and resumed drinking from their wine glasses. Erik rested his arm over my shoulders, his fingers skimming my bare skin, and I found it hard to concentrate on the conversation. I, too sipped from my wine glass, but was careful not to overindulge. When Ursula ordered shots of bright red and blue layered liquors, I politely declined. To my surprise, Erik did, too. I glanced down at his barely touched wine and realized that he hadn’t really been drinking at all. It was unusual for him since he was normally the one leading the drunken charge.

  After three rounds of the spirited shots, everyone, except Erik and me, was drunk. The conversation turned to gossip of mutual friends and people I didn’t know, so I leaned against Erik and played the role of observer. It was nice to be away from school, Mac, and Donavon. As I listened to my friends, I forgot about my own problems. I found myself smiling as they recounted drunken tales from past nights out, and embarrassing school memories. I was reminded that there was life outside of TOXIC; a whole world existed beyond the perimeter of the campus that I’d been confined to for the better part of a year.

  When Penny got up to use the bathroom, Ursula managed to finagle her way next to Harris and talked him into yet another shot. She trailed her perfectly painted nails—today the same bright red as her dress—up his arm when she spoke, and I had an urge to kick her. Watching her flirt with Harris was almost as infuriating as watching her flirt with Erik.

  As Penny returned to the table, she stopped short when she saw the way the two were canoodling, narrowing her eyes at Harris. Pain and regret contorted her features into an ugly grimace as she took a seat next to Cadence. Incensed on Penny’s behalf, I waited for Ursula to take a drink, then forced the glass to tip until the contents poured down the front of her dress.

  “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed, jumping from the booth.

  I met Penny’s eyes across the table, letting her know that it had been me. Her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to suppress a fit of drunken giggles.

  “Tal!” Erik exclaimed in my head. “I can’t believe you did that!”

  “Sorry,” I said sheepishly, though I wasn’t sorry at all. Sure, it had been a mean thing to do, but Penny was upset, and I didn’t like it. And maybe I was still a little miffed about the way she’d taunted Kenly, and about her hand on Erik’s arm at the dinner.

  Despite Erik’s comment, he was also trying to hide his amusement as Ursula blotted uselessly at the front of her ruined dress. The only other person who seemed to realize what I’d done was Cadence. She eyed me suspiciously across the table. I met her beady gaze boldly, daring her to say something. Cadence pursed her lips and kept her mouth shut.

  Ursula excused herself to tend to her dress. Penny glared at Harris, but he was too drunk to notice that she was upset. Well, this was shaping up to be a super fun day.

  “Tal, she’s a really nice girl. Give her a chance,” Erik chided. “She’s just a flirt; that’s who she is.”

  “Sorry,” I sent back. This time I really did feel bad; the trick had been petty. Impulse control was definitely something that I needed to work on.

  “Do you guys want to go somewhere else?” Frederick asked, picking up the last bottle of wine and emptying the contents into his glass.

  “Yeah, let’s go get some real dinner somewhere. I think we need to soak up some of the alcohol,” Henri agreed, glancing at the pile of crumpled napkins that Ursula had used to sop up the spilled wine.

  Once Ursula returned, we made our way through the thinning crowd and descended back to street level. Frederick navigated our way through the pedestrians on the sidewalk, ducking into a place called the Old Crow several blocks away. The restaurant was packed, but most of the people were dancing, so we were able to get a table and order dinner.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Ursula wiggled her way next to Harris, but when she went to sit in the chair next to him, she missed and fell to the dirty floor in an ungraceful heap. The one glass of wine had gone straight to my head, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud as I stared at her sprawled on the ground.

  “Damn, Ursula. Are you okay?” Erik rushed to her side since Harris was oblivious to the fact that she’d fallen. Erik grabbed her upper arm and hauled to her feet. Then his eyes narrowed on me.

  “Come on, Tal. The first time was funny, but that was just mean.” He gave me a pointed look.

  “Erik, I swear that wasn’t me!” I sent. It really hadn’t been. The chair had seemed to disappear beneath her, causing her to misjudge its position. I hadn’t used telekinesis to move it. Wait, disappear and reappear? That was light manipulation, Cadence’s specialty. I looked in her direction, but the blank expression on her scrunched features gave no indication as to whether she was the one to play the nasty trick.

  “Ursula is just drunk,” I added silently to Erik. He didn’t look completely convinced of my innocence, but he couldn’t argue with my statement. Ursula was clearly drunk, and she was laughing hysterically now that the initial shock had worn off. Erik helped her into the fully visible chair, then made his way around the table to sit next to me. Clearly irritated, he refused to look at me. Feeling guilty for something that I didn’t do, I silently flipped through my menu.

  The rest of dinner was uneventful. Erik’s annoyance with me didn’t last through our drink orders, so I quickly forgot that Ursula had managed to fall off a chair that hadn’t been there. Penny and Harris were once again chatting comfortably, and I figured that she must be drunk enough to forget her earlier irritation.

  Since Cadence had consumed enough alcohol to drown a cat, I figured that her guard would be down. I tried to read her mind, but—amazingly—her walls were still firmly in place. Despite that, her feelings apparently couldn’t be contained; and all of a sudden I was overcome by a fierce hatred. Cadence’s loathing burned deep inside of her. No concrete images leaked through, only a collage of colorful emotions: white fury, red rage, and black guilt. Normally she was able to smother the flames, but the alcohol seemed to weaken her resistance. I started coughing, hastily reached for my water glass, and brought it to my lips. The cold liquid was like a shock to my system, severing the tenuous connection to Cadence.

  “Tal? You okay?” Erik asked, concern lacing his every word.

  “Huh? Yeah, fine,” I mumbled, between gulps of water. Maybe I’d been a little quick to discount Cadence. She’d made it obvious from day one that we weren’t friends. I’d written off her dislike since it seemed to stem from jealousy, but now I wasn’t so sure. While I couldn’t be positive that her hatred was directed at me, the intensity and depth of it were alarming nonetheless. I needed to have a closer look at both her and her brother’s files.

  Erik continued to watch me through dinner. He knew that something had upset me, but he didn’t pry. I made weak attempts to reassure him that I was okay. And I really was as long as I stayed in my own head.

  I stole glances at Cadence, but didn’t open my mind back up to hers. I’d seen her in class and in training on her own, so I knew that she was incredibly focused and calculated. Watching her now, I realized that she carried those traits through to every task. When she cut the meat on her plate, she did so with surgeon-like precision. She chewed every piece of food exactly the same number of times as the one before it. Every third bite she took a drink from her wineglass. Each move that she made was perfectly timed and deliberate.

  I tried to envision her as a traitor. I conjured up images of Cadence skulking in darkened alleys and having clandestine meetings with men in trench coats. I envisioned her hiding in a broom closet in the Crypto Bank, waiting for an opportunity to tiptoe into an empty computer lab and hack into the system. Admittedly, my imagination was running a little wild, but her brother was currently imprisoned for aiding the escape of a Coalition Operative. Maybe she shared his ideals? Maybe he’d gotten her involved with Ian Crane? I definitely needed to take a second, much closer, look at Randy and Cadence Choi.

  After dinner Frederick suggested that we all stay at his house since Penny was no longer fit to drive.

  “I really can’t. Mac made me promise that I would be back at a decent time. I can drive,” I added, noting the way that Penny was leaning on Harris for support.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Erik asked hesitantly. “I mean, you aren’t really allowed to drive...”

  “I know, but I think that Mac would be less upset if I drove than if I stayed in the city,” I pointed out. I wasn’t entirely sure that was true; he would probably have preferred that I’d been responsible enough to demand one of my friends stay sober.

  “How about this: I’ll take Talia back and you guys can stay at Frederick’s. Henri, I’ll come get you tomorrow?” Erik offered.

  “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to cause you any trouble,” I muttered, although I secretly liked the idea of spending the ride alone with Erik.

  “It’s no trouble, and I’ve barely had anything to drink, so I’m good,” he promised me. “That cool with everyone?”

  Only Cadence looked like she wanted to protest, but Ursula didn’t give her the chance.

  “Totally,” she declared, “let’s pick up some more wine on the way back!”

  After I made sure that Penny would be okay if I left her, as if the puppy-dog-eyes she was making at Harris weren’t enough of an indication, Erik and I said our goodbyes. Then he took my hand and led me back to the hover garage. The streets were still filled with people, and I wished that Mac hadn’t placed such strict rules on my outing. Yet even as I thought it, I realized that I was exhausted. It was late, and we’d been partying all day. My bed sounded more appealing by the minute.